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ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT
Over the years, Hitz has reconsidered dozens of Southern classics: biscuits, fried chicken, corn pudding, Carolina pulled pork, shrimp and grits, fried green tomatoes, cole slaw, peach cobbler, and sweet potato pie, among others. “My goal was to revive lost dishes and to update ones that were no longer in favor,” he says. “I wanted to remake these recipes into timeless classics that even a finicky, mercurial eater with today’s tastes might enjoy. “I entertain often, and I always try to give my guests what I find they really like: comfort
food—nothing pretentious, trendy, or precious. Save the test tubes and foam for another time. As I have found with most things in life, simple is always best.” In 2009, Alex launched his gourmet frozen food line, My Beverly Hills Kitchen, on QVC with one product, beef bourguignon. He went on to HSN with an expanded line of 28 products, and his show consistently ranked No. 1 in the kitchen-and-food category. The book version, My Beverly Hills Kitchen, was published in 2012 after seven agents and multiple versions. “I’ve been working on this book my whole life,” Hitz states, noting that he was determined to craft a book that was entirely his own. After a bidding war among 28 publishers, his first book sold to Knopf— the same publisher who had discovered Julia Child—in just three hours, at a record price for a first-time food book. In 2019, he released his second book, The Art of the Host: Recipes and Rules for Flawless Entertaining. That work, also inspired by traditional Southern fare and French haute cuisine, presents comfort-food classics with romantic sophistication, offers 12 expertly curated menus for different occasions, and shares Alex’s essential bits of truth and advice for hosts seeking to create “memorable parties and delicious dinners.” Also in 2019, Hitz received one of the biggest honors of his career thus far. He was selected by a prestigious committee—which included the French president—to serve as the executive chef and event designer for a dinner celebrating the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Versailles. The Palace of Versailles joined with the National World War I Museum and Memorial on June 28 to commemorate peace and to celebrate American philanthropy in France. The celebration was marked by a three-course dinner for 700, held in the Hall of Battles. Alex and his team spent six months designing the event. The food was a reinterpretation and modernization of the original dinner that